I just learned today, while scrolling through various newspapers, mainly the Guardian, of  Summerside, Prince Edward Island, that my Great Grandfather Gabe Gallant received a long service award from Holman’s.  I’m including the news here.

 

 

 

As a result of this ‘find’, I gave my Great Auntie Gladys a phone call, the second one in two days.  I asked her about Holman’s and she assured me that the big brick building is still on the same corner, however they are using a lot of the space as offices and such.

Papie’s work was hard work.  For as long as Gladys could remember, Papie shoveled coal.  Holman’s sold coal at what she said was a very dear price to people and Papie was designated the shoveler.  He never had a driver’s licence, so that is what he qualified for.  Gladys explained that in the basement, everyone had a window shoot that you would open for your coal delivery.  You would use a pail to carry what you needed to heat your stove upstairs as well.  Every morning after the coal delivery, children would take to the streets with wagons and pick up bits of coal that had fallen during the delivery.  She said that a piece of coal was quite heavy, “so, just imagine what a pail would weigh?”

I looked a little into the Holman family and am going to go from distant history forward to the passing of Alan Holman who died in 2010, the last to work in the family firm, R. T. Holman Ltd.

First of all, Robert T. Holman.

A very thorough and concise biography appears in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.  A portrait of Robert T. Holman is linked to …

Historic Places in Prince Edward Island

250 Water Street Summerside Also called: Former Holman’s Department Store Construction Date: 1874 – 1919

The image of the post card, above, is borrowed from this website, but with no changes or modifications.

Another very well-written article about Alan Holman was written by Allison Lawlor as a special piece for The Globe and Mail on January 5, 2011.

“During the Second World War, Holman’s, which was located in an imposing rectangular brick building on Water Street, secured contracts from the RCAF Station in Summerside. In 1941, the company supplied bottled drinks, fish and coal. Also that year, the firm was awarded a Department of Munitions and Supply contract for $23,250 worth of gasoline, oil and fuel, according to documents compiled by Wyatt Heritage Properties in Summerside.”

This source confirms what, for me, was an unusual bit of news when I asked Gladys what Gabe did for the Holman Company and she said…shoveled coal.  I had to crack a smile when I read about Gabe Gallant up dancing the heel and toe at the annual celebration of long service awards.

Alan Holman

Passed in: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Passed on: December 5th, 2010